9 tips to get more from Facebook

Using Facebook for business is a very different game to posting trivial updates about your family’s latest adventures, sharing photos of you and your mates on a night out, or having a rant about something that’s infuriated you in the news or entertainment world. You need to plan your content, your page and post layouts and indeed your whole social media strategy in advance and then stick to the plan to reach your goals. You have got concrete goals to achieve via your social media channels, don’t you? Read our tips on how to maximise your efforts on Facebook.

1. Create a vanity URL

You’ll want to share your Facebook page far and wide, and it’s way easier if it’s something like www.facebook.com/yourcompanyname or uses your product name or space. We weren’t able to get facebook.com/rentpro (it was already taken by a Chinese firm) but we did secure facebook.com/propertymanagementsoftware which is still completely relevant and easy to remember. See this Facebook link on how to secure your own page URL.

2. Pin key posts to the top

By default posts will appear on your page in the order you post them, but not all posts are created equal and there’ll always be some items you’ll prefer to boost up your page to remain prominent. From the post menu (the little arrow to the top right of each post) click Pin to Top to keep that post above all others until you choose something else to replace it.

3. Save interesting posts to read later

Let’s face it, Facebook’s constant stream of content can be overwhelming and we’ve all seen that story which we thought was very relevant and interesting but couldn’t find it again when we went looking for it in the sea of posts later. The next time you see something important, click Save Post and it will be filed for future reference, accessible via the Saved ribbon option in your left-hand menu bar.

4. Make sure you have a call to action

As with any marketing activity, and that’s what your Facebook page is, you need to actually encourage your viewers to take some action, not just read your post and move on. Use graphics to prompt people to like your page, run promos, or offer free material to get them actively engaged. Your ultimate goal is to turn one-time visitors into regular fans who are fully aware of your brand.

5. Use images and video in posts

Rich media is naturally more eye-catching and will paint a livelier picture of what you do than text-heavy posts. Post images of your product, or lifestyle photos of your typical customer enjoying the benefits of your product or service. Keep posts fairly short and very snappy – take time to plan the words rather than just posting off the top of your head in a hurry. Nobody can be bothered to read more than a few sentences so make every word count.

6. Ask for visitors’ input and feedback

Your customers are your business, so you need to be engaging with them in a two-way conversation, listening to what they are thinking and what they want. Social media channels, and Facebook in particular are great for sounding ideas and asking for feedback on your services or product line, and it keeps your brand active in people’s minds also.

7. Schedule posts in advance

You don’t have to be sitting at your laptop ready to hit the Post button at 10am each morning. I’ll let you in on a secret – this article was written on the weekend but is scheduled to go out on Tuesday morning, our preferred time to send out our main weekly posts. It’s hard to get time to prepare interesting content so set aside a couple of hours during the week, pull it together and then schedule it for various times appropriate to your audience.

8. Be ready to post quickly

Rather than contradicting the last tip, this one can work alongside it. Life moves fast, and the news can present very topical content throughout the day. Keep your eye on your relevant industry and sector news by checking in on your chosen news sites a couple of times per day, or by using Google Alerts for a daily digest. When you spot something relevant, put your own perspective on it and share it. As well as boosting your credibility in your field, people will naturally follow your page to stay abreast of relevant stories without having to go hunting for it themselves.

9. Download your data for insights

Facebook Insights is a very powerful tool allowing you to track and analyse all user activity on your Facebook page. Filter and download user data to Excel to learn more about your page performance, the number of likes and the reach of your posts. Learning more about your typical visitors, who is reading your content, and which content is most popular can shape your future publishing efforts. To start using Insights click on the gear wheel on your Facebook page and select View Insights.

More than a billion people use Facebook globally every day. That’s a huge audience, although of course you’ll only be targeting a very small segment of it. Give your fans and customers a good reason to visit your page daily, and to tell others about it so that your following will continue to grow, and your brand awareness with it.